BY-ELECTIONS 23.06.22

The Conservatives were defending two parliamentary seats on Thursday and have sensationally lost both of them.  The Tiverton and Honiton by-election came about due to the resignation of Neil Parish, who was found to have viewed pornography on his mobile phone in the Commons chamber.  The Tories were defending a whopping 24,239 majority in the Devon constituency, but a huge swing to the Lib Dems put them top of the poll with a 6,144 majority.  The Lib Dems finished third here in 2019, but Labour boosted their chances this time around by stepping back from campaigning.  As a consequence, Labour finished third themselves and lost their deposit.

Tiverton and Honiton had been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1997, the previous Tiverton constituency had been blue since 1924.  This stunning defeat deals another crushing blow to Boris Johnson's leadership.

Tiverton & Honiton by-election

Richard Foord (LDem) 22,537 (53.1%) +38.6%

Helen Hurford  (Con) 16,393 (38.4%) -21.8%

Liz Pole (Lab) 1,562 (3.7%) -15.8%

Gill Westcott (Grn) 1,064 (2.5%) -1.3%

Andy Foan (RefUK) 481 (1.1%) New

Ben Walker (UKIP) 241 (0.6%) -1.0

Jordan Donoghue-Morgan (Herit) 167 (0.4%) New

Frankie Rufolo (ForBr) 146 (0.3%) New

The Wakefield by-election went to Labour, as expected.  Before 2019 the seat had been red since 1932, but Imran Khan took the seat in the last general election for the Tories.  He stood down following his conviction for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.  His 3,358 majority was overturned by Labour's Simon Lightwood who topped the poll with a 4,925 majority - the party's largest majority in Wakefield since 2005.

It was a crowded ballot paper in Wakefield, but only three of the 15 candidates saved their deposits.

Wakefield by-election

Simon Lightwood (Lab) 13,166 (48.4%) +8.6%

Nadeem Ahmed (Con) 8,241 (30.3%) -17.0%

Akef Akbar (Ind) 2,090 (7.7%) New

David Herdson (Yorks) 1,182 (4.3%) +2.4%

Ashley Routh (Grn) 587 (2.2%) New

Chris Walsh (RefUK) 513 (1.9%) -4.2%

Jamie Needle (LDem) 508 (1.9%) -2.0%

Ashlea Simon (BritF) 311 (1.1%) New

Mick Dodgson (Freedom) 187 (0.7%) New

Sir Archibald Stanton Earl Eaton (Loony) 171 (0.6%) New

Paul Bickerdike (Christ) 144 (0.5%) New

Therese Hirst (EngDem) 135 (0.5% New

Jordan Gaskell (UKIP) 124 (0.5%) New

Christopher Jones (North) 84 (0.3%) New

Jayda Fransen (Ind) 23 (0.1%) New

There were also five council by-elections on Thursday with eight seats up for grabs.  The Conservatives were defending two seats and lost them both, mirroring their parliamentary woes with defeats to Labour and the Lib Dems.  In Waverley the Lib Dems were helped to victory by the absence of a Labour candidate this time - the 'progressive alliance' in action again.

Labour held two seats in south Wales, while the Lib Dems gained a seat from an independent in Shropshire.  The Lib Dems also picked up three seats in Kingston-upon-Thames, an election postponed from May after one of the candidates passed away.

Bush Fair, Harlow District Council

Lab: 594 (47.1%) +2.6%

Con: 482 (38.2%) -6.5%

Grn: 109 (8.6%) +1.0%

HAP: 76 (6.0%) New

Lab GAIN from Con

New Malden Village, Kingston London Borough Council

(three seats)

LDem: 1,217

LDem: 1,184

LDem: 1,182 

Grn: 867 

Ind: 724

Ind: 703 

Con: 467

Con: 372

Con: 327

Lab: 436

Lab: 429

Lab: 374

LDem GAIN x 3 (new ward)

Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

(two seats)

Lab: 914

Lab: 898

Plaid: 367

Ind: 246 

Plaid: 244

Ind: 171

Grn: 46

Grn: 25

Lab HOLD x 2

Highley, Shropshire Council

LDem: 630 (54.5%) New

Con: 279 (24.1%) -9.5%

Lab: 239 (20.7%) +7.3%

Grn: 9 (0.8%) New

LDem GAIN from Ind

Hindhead, Waverley Borough Council

LDem: 526 (54.6%) +7.9%

Con: 440 (45.4%) -1.2%

LDem GAIN from Con

Abbreviations

LDem = Liberal Democrat

Con = Conservative

Lab = Labour

Grn = Green

RefUK = Reform UK

UKIP = UK Independence Party

Herit = Heritage

ForBrit = For Britain

Yorks = Yorkshire

BritF = Britain First

Freedom = Freedom Alliance

Loony = Monster Raving Loony

Christ = Christian Peoples Alliance

EngDem = English Democrats

North = Northern Independence

HAP = Harlow Alliance Party

Plaid = Plaid Cymru

Ind = Independent

A BIT RICH, COMRADE

There aren't many days on which the First Minister of Wales doesn't take aim at UK government policy on Twitter.  Following the failure of the Rwanda policy it was suggested that some of the migrants could be given electronic tags, so that they don't abscond from bail.  They have, after-all, entered the UK illegally.  This was all lost on open borders enthusiast Mark Drakeford who lambasted the very suggestion...

Of course not so long ago the Welsh Commissar effectively closed the Welsh border several times and told, specifically, English people to stay away.  What if they too were 'seeking safety and sanctuary' Mr Drakeford?  Does this sanctuary of which you speak only apply to foreigners?  Or was this merely an opportunity for you to flex your socialist nanny state muscles, an opportunity that no comrade could fail to seize with both limp-wristed hands?

As for treating people with 'dignity and respect'.  Was it not only a few months ago that people in Wales who had not received an experimental and potentially fatal Covid vaccine were largely excluded from society?  They were treated like second class citizens, criminalised and barred from hospitality.  Meanwhile, the compliant ones were forced to present their papers or digital ID in order to participate in society and failure to do so would relegate them to the lowly status of the unjabbed lepers.

Those who may be tagged by immigration officials have entered this country illegally Mr Drakeford.  They may well pose a threat to the security and safety of our citizens - as with the abhorrent bombing of the Manchester Arena that cost so many lives.  What is abhorrent about looking after the safety of your own citizens?  Is that not what you were doing with your over-the-top Covid restrictions?

We strongly suspect it was more likely that you merely leapt at the chance to stamp your socialist authority on the proletariat and when some refused to comply you created an apartheid society.  You will undoubtedly be gagging to do so again, especially seeing as Covid restrictions in Wales are 'paused' as opposed to 'ended'.

An apartheid regime Mr Drakeford, really?  What would Jeremy say?

PRIME MINISTER'S QUESTIONS 22.06.22

With rail strikes crippling the country, it looks set to be a hot topic today - whether Keir Starmer wants to discuss it or not.

Watch below from noon.

LABOUR ON THE PICKET LINE

Keir Starmer is between a rock and a hard place at the moment.  He does not want to discuss the rail strikes - as he wants to remain firmly seated on the fence.  He neither wants to upset the trade unions that bankroll his party, or the millions of workers who will be adversely affected by the strikes.  As the strikes commenced on Tuesday his social media accounts fell silent.  24 hours earlier he banned his frontbenchers from joining the RMT picket lines.  He didn't slap a ban on his backbenchers, because he knew that would be pointless...

Labour backbenchers on the RMT picket line on Tuesday - Beth Winter, Kim Johnson,
Rachael Maskell, Richard Burgon, Zarah Sultana, Ian Byrne, Rebecca Long-Bailey,
Dan Carden and Paula Barker

Diane Abbott and several other MPs were on separate picket lines and the former shadow home secretary tweeted a defiant message to her party leader...

Other Labour MPs on the picket line included Tahir Ali, Ian Lavery, Andy McDonald, John McDonnell, Kate Osborne, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Mick Whitley and Nadia Whittome.  Sam Tarry was on the picket line with a loudspeaker on Tuesday, but his lover Angela Rayner was nowhere to be seen, clearly adhering to her leader's ban.  Clive Lewis hilariously tweeted apologies that he couldn't be on the picket line - as there were no trains running!

THE WAKEFIELD TOSSER

Keir Starmer ran into some public dissent over the weekend in a Wakefield walkabout ahead of Thursday's parliamentary by-election.  Embarrassingly for the Labour leader, a film crew from the Daily Telegraph were on hand to record the incident.  As Starmer walks alongside the party's candidate, a man can be heard shouting "Don't vote for him, he's a tosser".  It's not clear if the jibe was directed at Starmer or his candidate.

Click below for the video.

Voters go to the polls in two big by-elections this Thursday, both Conservative defences and both brought about because of disgraced Tory MPs.

In Wakefield Labour are firm favourites to retake the seat after the incumbent was convicted of sexual assault on a 15-year-old boy.  The Tories had taken the seat from Labour in 2019, making Imran Khan the first Conservative MP for Wakefield since 1931.  The Tories have chosen another Muslim candidate to defend the seat, local councillor Nadeem Ahmed.  Meanwhile, Labour have been accused of parachuting an outsider into the constituency.  Simon Lightwood is from South Shields - 107 miles north of Wakefield.  It's a packed ballot paper for the by-election, with 15 candidates in total.

Wakefield general election 2019 result

Imran Khan (Con) 21,283 (47.3%) +2.3%

Mary Creagh (Lab) 17,925 (39.8%) –9.9%

Peter Wiltshire (Brexit) 2,725 (6.1%) New

Jamie Needle (LDem) 1,772 (3.9%) +1.9%

Ryan Kett (Yorks) 868 (1.9%) -0.6%

Stephen Whyte (Ind) 454 (1.0%) New

In Tiverton and Honiton it's the Lib Dems who are favourites to beat the Tories, despite coming third in 2019.  Labour have taken a step back from campaigning in order to give the Lib Dems the best possible chance of taking the seat.  If the Conservatives lose Tiverton it will be a huge blow, more so than Wakefield, because they are defending a much larger majority of 24,239.

The seat was vacated after the incumbent, Neil Parish, was found to have viewed pornography on his phone while in the Commons chamber.  The Tories have chosen a local candidate by the name of Helen Hurford, a former headteacher who now runs a beauty salon.  The Lib Dems are throwing the kitchen sink at this by-election and have selected ex-squaddie Richard Foord, who is from the village of Uffculme to the east of Tiverton.

Tiverton & Honiton general election 2019 result

Neil Parish (Con) 35,893 (60.2%) –1.2%

Liz Pole (Lab) 11,654 (19.5%) –7.6%

John Timperley (LDem) 8,807 (14.8%) +6.8%

Colin Reed (Grn) 2,291 (3.8%) +0.3%

Margaret Dennis (UKIP) 968 (1.6%) New

We'll publish the results on this website as soon as they are available.

NEIL OLIVER'S MONOLOGUE 18.06.22

A recent report from the UN suggests that the earth's temperatures haven't risen for 15 years.  The damning report should be a major blow to the climate change lobby, but as per usual - with anything detrimental to the globalist elite - the story never saw the light of day in mainstream media.  Step forward our libertarian hero to make it the centrepiece of his latest searing monologue on GB News.

There is little doubt to anyone who's paying attention that the green agenda - whether it be called Net Zero, the Green New Deal, COP26 or Agenda 2030 - we will all be poorer because of it.  All of us, that is, except the elites.  Take Barack Obama, who recently installed huge propane tanks at his coastal mansion.  Not only is that not what he preaches for the rest of us, the very fact he recently purchased a coastal mansion suggests that he is not at all concerned about rising sea levels.

These people preach green for the rest of us, while they enjoy all the spoils of fossil fuels and meat.

Watch Neil's latest piece to camera below.

DYSLEXIC DAVE INVENTS NEW AIRPORT

This is the sleepy village of Stanstead in Suffolk.  The population is just over 300, spread across 140 homes and definitely no airport nearby.  Yes, hot on the heels of his 'Tabilan' tweet, the grammatically challenged Dave Lammy has struck again.  The man who would be our foreign secretary managed to misspell the name of the airport he was using to attack the government...

We used to refer to Lammy as 'Daft Dave', but it's becoming increasingly apparent that he's more like a 'Dyslexic Dave'.  Some of those in the comments sensed an anti-Brexit message in Lammy's tweet.  One of them was his former Labour colleague Kate Hoey, now Baroness Hoey of course and an independent...

Kate's response was by far the most popular response to Lammy, with more than four thousand 'likes'.  It still remains to be explained by Dave and his Europhile posse how Brexit has somehow managed to create travel chaos across much of Europe and spiralling inflation across the West?

It's not Brexit, dummy.

THE WEEK IN CARTOONS 12-18 JUNE 2022

12.06.22 - Stanley McMurtry, Mail on Sunday

12.06.22 - Nick Newman, Sunday Times

14.06.22 - Bob Moran, Twitter

14.06.22 - Chip Bok, Twitter

14.06.22 - Patrick Cross, Twitter

14.06.22 - Morten Morland, The Times

14.06.22 - Andy Davey, Daily Telegraph

14.06.22 - Christian Adams, Evening Standard

15.06.22 - Christian Adams, Evening Standard

16.06.22 - Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph

16.06.22 - Dave Brown, Independent

16.06.22 - Ruben L Oppenheimer, Twitter

17.06.22 - Andy Davey, Daily Telegraph

17.06.22 - Christian Adams, Evening Standard

17.06.22 - Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph

17.06.22 - Ben Garrison, Grrr Graphics

18.06.22 - Dick Wright, Cagle Cartoons

18.06.22 - Gary Varvel, Twitter

18.06.22 - Matt Pritchett, Daily Telegraph

18.06.22 - Peter Brookes, The Times

TWO AND A HALF WEEKS

On Friday it was reported that Keir Starmer has returned the Beergate questionnaire issued to him by County Durham police.  Problem is, the Labour leader was sent that questionnaire two and a half weeks ago.  Was he given a deadline?  Was that deadline looming?  Is he stringing things out as long as possible in the hope that they'll give up?

We can only assume that this barrister and former public prosecutor has an agenda, because two and a half weeks is a long time to fill out a questionnaire.  Make no mistake, if it had taken Johnson that long then Starmer would be roundly mocking him come the next PMQs.

The ball is now back in the court of Durham Constabulary.  Will they fine Sir Squeaky?  He has pledged to resign if they do...

ACTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES

One of the few saving graces from Boris Johnson's torrid time in office is that a significant chunk of the population know that if Labour had been running things, England would have been locked down longer,  harder and more often.  Last Christmas - despite all the data coming from South Africa about how mild the Omicron variant was - Labour clamoured for a fourth lockdown.  That would have been catastrophic, as all the lockdowns were, but with Covid reduced to cold-type symptoms it would have been the most absurd.

The only part of the UK under a Labour government was also the last part of the UK to end all Covid restrictions.  Mark Drakeford finally lifted the remaining restriction - face masks in health and social care settings - on May 30.  However, in announcing the change he declared that such restrictions had been 'paused', raising the spectre of renewed diktats in the autumn: "We will put all these measures on hold.  However, we aren’t simply abandoning them, we are pausing them in case we see another pandemic wave in the autumn, or the winter." 

As if these socialist policies hadn't done enough harm already.

The cost of living crisis is a cost of lockdown crisis.  Us mere mortals will all be much poorer as a result of the wave of self-defeating, pointless, costly and painful policies meted out across these islands.  None of the governing parties are free of blame.  While the Tories did their best to oppose some measures in Scotland and Wales, they dished them out in Westminster.  For Labour and the SNP, such an opportunity to dictate the lives of the proletariat was a dream come true.

When Keir Starmer stands up in the Commons and attacks the government over the cost of living, NHS waiting lists and tax burden - we must never forget that he voted for all this.  Repeatedly.  In fact he consistently called for lockdowns to come sooner and argued against lifting them.  It is only thanks to Labour support that vaccine mandates were passed in England last year - including the despicable NHS mandate that would have seen up to 100,000 staff sacked had it been carried through.

As if things weren't bad enough for patients already - missed diagnoses, record waiting lists, abysmal ambulance response times.  Ironically, one of those complaining about the state of the NHS is none other than Labour's Jess Phillips, who repeatedly voted for all this.

Imagine complaining about the consequence of your own actions, but not being self aware enough to realise?  Phillips encapsulates the current woeful state of the green benches.

COUNCIL BY-ELECTIONS 16.06.22

Four contests this week - two Labour defences, one Tory defence and a free-for-all in Worcestershire.

Labour held their seats in Sunderland and Warwick, while the Conservatives held in Rother, East Sussex.  The latter was an interesting head-to-head between the Tories and Lib Dems, with three absentees - no candidates from Labour (10.3% last time), UKIP (7.8%) and no independent (34.3%).  While the Lib Dems took more advantage from the missing candidates, it wasn't enough to win the seat.

There were also three absentees in Wyre Forest, Worcestershire.  This vacancy was caused by the resignation of a councillor from local campaign group Health Concern, who did not defend the seat.  They secured 30.1% last time, while UKIP and the Greens won 10.6% and 10.0% respectively.  It was the Conservatives who took the most advantage from their absence and in doing so gained their first council seat in a by-election since April 7.

Brede & Udimore, Rother District Council

Con: 424 (61.4%) +21.5%

LDem: 266 (38.6%) +30.9%

Con HOLD

Copt Hill, Sunderland City Council

Lab: 969 (44.5%) -1.6%

Ind: 606 (27.8%) New

Con: 384 (17.6%) +4.9%

Grn: 158 (7.3%) -3.0%

LDem: 61 (2.8%) New

Lab HOLD

Leamington Clarendon, Warwick District Council

Lab: 1,064 (48.9%) +14.4%

LDem: 612 (28.1%) -1.3%

Con: 365 (16.9%) -0.6%

Grn: 105 (5.0%) -7.2%

UKIP: 24 (1.1%) -5.2%

Lab HOLD

Franche & Habberley North, Wyre Forest District Council

Con: 826 (45.2%) +25.4%

Lab: 656 (35.9%) +16.1%

LDem: 347 (19.0%) +9.2%

Con GAIN from HlthCon

PRIME MINISTER'S QUESTIONS 15.06.22

This could be a tricky encounter for Keir Starmer.  He has so far remained silent about the Rwanda debacle, but could be tempted to deploy the issue at PMQs.  This would be a mistake, as the reason for his silence is calculated.  He must win back Red Wall seats in order to win the next election, but the problem is that beyond the oh-so-virtuous middle classes of Islington and Camden, the Rwanda policy is overwhelmingly popular among the working classes.

How will he play it?  Watch here from noon.

THE WEEK IN CARTOONS 5-11 JUNE 2022

05.06.22 - Nick Newman, Sunday Times

05.06.22 - Morten Morland, Sunday Times

05.06.22 - Andy Davey, Sunday Times

05.06.22 - Chris Riddell, Observer

05.06.22 - Ben Garrison, Grrr Graphics

06.06.22 - Ben Garrison, Grrr Graphics

06.06.22 - Guy Venables, Metro

06.06.22 - Ben Jennings, Twitter

07.06.22 - Morten Morland, The Times

07.06.22 - Christian Adams, Evening Standard

08.06.22 - Guy Venables, Metro

08.06.22 - Bob Moran, Twitter

08.06.22 - Dave Brown, Independent

08.06.22 - Ben Jennings, Guardian

08.06.22 - Patrick Cross, Twitter

09.06.22 - Christian Adams, Evening Standard

09.06.22 - Dick Wright, Cagle Cartoons

09.06.22 - Patrick Blower, Daily Telegraph

09.06.22 - Bob Moran, Twitter

09.06.22 - Patrick Cross, Twitter

09.06.22 - Peter Brookes, The Times

10.06.22 - Andy Davey, Daily Telegraph

10.06.22 - Dave Brown, Independent

10.06.22 - Christian Adams, Evening Standard

10.06.22 - Ben Jennings, Twitter

10.06.22 - Guy Venables, Metro

10.06.22 - Osama Hajjaj, Twitter

11.06.22 - Patrick Chappatte, NZZ am Sonntag